SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (CBS 2) – Police in one New Jersey community are warning residents to be extra cautious after a recent rise in burglaries.

Over the past month, nighttime bandits have hit six homes in South Orange, all along East Clark.

Police say the burglars are targeting secluded backyards, using first floor windows, placing something underneath to get in, cutting screens and in some cases using windows that are already open.

The bandits gave one homeowner the fright of her life. The resident only wanted to go by the name “Lisa” on-air and told CBS 2 that they came in through a window that she thought had its latches on.

Thieves broke into her home in the middle of the night as she and her family slept, CBS 2’s Christine Sloan reports. When asked what the thought could have happened, Lisa said she thinks about it all the time.

“We could have been dead. They could have gone upstairs—hurt one of us. They could have hurt one of our children,” she said.